Hiring a website designer for a small business is one of those decisions where most people don’t know what questions to ask until they’ve been bitten once. These are the seven I’d ask if I were on the other side of the table — not gotchas to catch people out, but conversations that quickly show you who you’d actually be working with.
By Christopher Mollard, J4G Design — Fulham, since 2017.
Last updated 20 Jun 2026
1. Who owns the domain, hosting, CMS and files after the build?
The answer worth listening for is: you, on three and the hosting is wherever you sign up to (hosting is rented space and where your website lives on the web). I always register the domain in the client’s name on day one and give them admin access throughout the build. If a designer wants to keep your domain “for convenience”, I’d ask why — there’s usually a reason it works for them more than for you.
2. What CMS do you use, and why?
WordPress is a great choice for most small business builds — roughly 43% of all websites run on it. I use it for that reason and because it’s flexible enough for almost every business need – small or large!
I’d be cautious of proprietary or “we built our own platform” CMSes, especially on a small-business budget. They tend to be hard to leave later and you’re often tied into using their team to keep it up to date.
3. Will I be able to edit my own pages?
This one’s worth pressing on. A good small-business site should let you update prices, add team members, swap a photo or post a blog without calling anyone.
If you’ll need to email the designer for every small change, ask what each one will cost. Four small changes a year is still a quiet recurring bill, and the value compounds in favour of self-service.
For my own builds I include an hour of training so clients can do all this themselves. Most people only need to be shown once although they’re very busy so they would usually rather just send me an email/Whatsapp with changes that I get on with.
4. Who writes the copy?
Website copy is roughly half the site. Decent copy and average design will convert better than the reverse. So it’s worth asking explicitly:
- Are you writing it?
- Are they writing it?
- If they are, who exactly — them, an in-house copywriter, or an outsourced freelancer?
This is important and usually factored into quotes.
5. How do you handle mobile and page speed?
“Responsive” is now standard. The more useful follow-ups are about page speed and what testing looks like before launch:
- Can I see the site on a phone, tablet and laptop before we go live?
- What’s a typical page-load time on mobile for your work?
I aim for under 3 seconds on mobile 4G. Most issues can be measured, which makes them easier to fix.
6. What’s included as “SEO”?
This one varies a lot between studios. At a minimum I’d expect:
- Title tags and meta descriptions written per page
- Clean URL structure
- Schema markup appropriate to the business (LocalBusiness, Service, Product)
- XML sitemap submitted to Google Search Console
- Page speed optimised at launch
- A Google Business Profile audit alongside the site
If “SEO included” means “we installed a plugin and ticked the box”, that isn’t really SEO setup. You also now need to ask about AEO setup.
7. What happens after launch?
The post-launch experience varies a lot. Some studios disappear once the invoice is paid. Others have ticketing systems that take days to respond to small queries.
Two questions worth asking:
- If I email you on a Monday with a bug, when can I expect to hear back?
- Is there a courtesy period for tweaks after launch?
For my own clients I usually offer two weeks of courtesy tweaks after the site goes live — small adjustments, copy fixes, layout tidies. That tends to settle most of what comes up once a site is in real use.
The question most people forget
“What’s your business actually good at, and what would you not take on?”
Good designers tend to know. They’re brilliant at custom small-business sites but don’t do complex e-commerce. They’re great at branding but sub out the build. Honest answers protect you from a misfit hire.
If a designer says they do everything well, that’s worth a second look. Specialists tend to outperform generalists, especially at small-business budgets.
If you’d like to talk through your specific project, happy to do that — contact page.